Newsletter-174-August-1985

Newsletter No 174 August,
1985

SWANSCOMBE SKULLDIGGERY by
Tessa &-George

Recently two HADAS members visited the
site of the Swanscombe skull quarry during the Nature Conservancy weekend
mentioned in the June News­letter, when engraved stone markers were unveiled atthe
sites ofthe finding of three pieces of skull of this famous Paleolithic
fossil. The actual skull, oldest found in NW Europe, was on show, loaned by the
British Museum (Natural History Dept.), with fossil remains of mammoth bear giant
elk, and fossilfootprints of bison, rhino and elephant. Flint tools from the
site, of various shapes and dates, filled several dis­play cases in the temporary
marquees. A demonstration of flint knapping using red deer antler, added
further interest.

It is rather amusing that Swanscombe Man
is now thought to be Swanscombe Young
Woman - 'young' because the skull plates had not fused together, which is
something thathappens in the early twenties; and 'woman' because of the slim
neck-muscle cavity. The skull bone is thick and has features of Neanderthal
man, yet it is fairly similar in shape and general appearance to that of a
modern skull, so the ancestry is open to debate.

Those of you who
enjoyed the HADAS. outing to Swanscombe in 1981 will be interested to learn
that a large cross-section of the bank is now ex­posed to show the sand and
gravel strata laid down hundreds of thousands of years ago; and this area is
where some of us found discardedexamples of worked flints. Rhine snail shells have been
excavated in the earliest levels and give rise to the theory that the Thames
was originally the source of the Rhine. It was also fun to learn that the early
meanderings of the River Thames made their way here via Rickmansworth, Ruislip
and Finchley, rather like a Green Line coach, until various ice ages blocked
the river with boulders and ice, and it was diverted. This area, at the edge of
the wide. flood plain of the Thames, and now so much higher than the modern
river which flows far away in the distance, was once an indus­trial site of
prehistoric man; later it was used as a gravel pit, then a municipal rubbish tip
and now it is protected by the Nature Conservancy Council and is open to
visitors. It is just off the A2 north of Rochester.

Note: for new members not yet fully
integrated into the. HADAS "family"Tressa
is Tessa Smith, for several- years a Committee member, one of the leading
lights of the Roman Group and a Guardian of our-
interests in the Edgware area;' while 'George' is George Ingram, the Society's
former librarian, a great supporter of HADAS outings and celebrations, and
never seen at any of them without a cheery smile on his face.

HADAS DIARY

Sat Aug 17 Trip to Porton Down and
Salisbury. For security reasons the application form for this went out with the
last Newsletter letter. Response has been good and the coach is full.

Sat Sept 21 Sutton Hoo/Woodbridge.
Application form for this will be enclosed with the September Newsletter.

Sat Oct Minimart.
Material is already coming in well, and we hope that you will keep) it up.
Please ring either Dorothy Newbury (203 0950) or Christine Arnott (455 2751) if
you have things you want to deposit or to have collected. Jam makers, please
note - 'a lb for HADAS' added to your normal boiling will be much appreciated.

WEST HEATH. The dig closed
at the end of July. A report on this year's work will be published in a future
Newsletter.

ON THE COLLEGE FARM FRONT

The end of the
College Farm battle, it seems may be in sight: 'at least tenant-farmer Chris
Ower begins to feel that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Two weeks ago a
preservation order, which protects it for the next 6 months, was slapped on the
farm, and representatives of the GLC and Barnet arrived to put up notices to
that effect. As reported in the last Newsletter, an application was made in May
to the Historic Buildings Division of GLC to listthe farm building
on grounds of their importance to the-history of the dairy trade. It is
understood that the GLC recom­mended listing; the preservation order is an
interim measure, .to tide over until listing – which requires confirmation by
the Department of Environment -finally
takes place.

The 'That's Life'
Programme which featured the farm in June has had many repercussions. Some
£3000 has arrived in cash from individuals, as well as many promises; two large
firms have offered financialhelp and sponsorship; moves are on foot to set up a Trust
for the farm, and the services of top accountants and lawyers to advise on the
terms of the Trust have been provided free by a millionaire benefactor - help
which Mr Ower particularly values. When the Trust is in being, Chris Ower's
avowed aim will be 'to get the main building back to its former glory.'

The local press -
both the Hendon Times and the Finchley Press - has also been
helpful, and Chris Ower considers himself greatly in their debt for keeping the
farm's troubles inthe news week after week.

He has good news to
tell too, about the Highland cattle, in whose fate many HADAS members have been
interested. They were originally sold to an independent buyer last March
because Chris could no longer meet the cost of-their feed, and this fact was publicised.
The cattle, however, weren't immediately moved from the farm for two reasons:
Chris hadn't got the facilities to corral and transport them, and the buyer was
short of pasture. For three Months they have remained, under sentence of depar­ture,
during which time one cow produced a beautiful Calf; now there is no need for
them to go, so it is hoped to re-negotiate the deal and buy the cattle back.

There are also
plans to enlist the interest of the Rare Breeds Survi­val Trust, which does not
at present have a centre in the London area.

All in all, there's lots happening at
College Farm - and at last they are mostly good things.

ROMAN SURPRISE. The retired archaeologist who visited 13c Dean Hall;
Littledean, Gloucestershire, must have had thesurprise of his life
when he went down into the cellar. He looked at the masonry of which it was built
once, twice and again: and realised that he was standing in a Roman building.

It is thought to
be a temple-type structure: possibly a 1500 year old water shrine. A field
course under the direction of Manchester University will be excavating it,
during August.

MEDIEVAL POTTERY - LONDON-TYPE WARE.

by J E Pearce, A G Vince & N A Jenner (LAMAS Special Paper No 6)

The latest Special
Paper of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society deals specifically
with London Ware. This is the major type of glazed pottery in London
from mid 12c-mid 13c - and it perhaps continues into the 14c.

This paper is
especially welcome and, like most detailed surveys of medieval material, it is
long overdue. To gain a more complete picture of the 'London medieval pottery
scene it must be read, in conjunction with the report on Mill Green Ware
(Pearce et al, Trans LMAS vol 33, 1982) and Herts-Glazed Ware (Jenner & Vince Trans LMAS
vol 34, 1983).

It deals carefully with methods of
terminology and fabric. The authors have ranged widely round museums in the
Greater London area; some 67 findspots being recorded - alas, excluding any
mention of Hendon, which probably has a few sherds, although most are Herts
Grey Ware.

The maps and distribution figures are good
and it is interesting to see that material
travelled as far as Exeter, New Romney (Kent) and Kings Lynn. An attempt has
been made on p 20-21 to illustrate the changes in pottery fashion by type and
date. This excellent system .is similar to that used in the monumental 2-vol
work on Excavations in Medieval Southamp­ton by Colin Platt & Richard
Coleman-Smith (Leicester University Press 1975).

Pages 143-5 are an interesting attempt to
link the capacity of drinking jugs and baluster jugs with their weight and also
with the standard wine measures of the time.

There are many
photographs, including four pages in colour showing 8 whole pots. There are also detailed photographs of the various types of clay ornamentation applied to the exterior of the body
before glazing.

All types of product have been dealt
with, including roof finials and louvres for smoke. Page 118 illustrates
watering pots and on p. 46 the existence of three nearly whole ones is
mentioned. Hendon can add another, found in the Church End Farm excavations of
1963. This was excavated material, but I am not sure if it was glazed.

This is a very good and welcome
production: it is impossible in this space to deal with all its aspects. It is
a 'must' for reference for anyone dealing with the medieval period.

Should you not be a member of .LAMAS and
wish to purchase a copy, it is on sale at the Museum of London, price £6.00.

TED SAMMES

COMMITTEE CORNER

The Committee met
on July 12 and, among other things, discussed.:

The Green Belt,
which is the latest subject in the LBB series of draft topic.studies. HADAS has
been invited to comment on it by early September.

The Committee
decided to donate £25 to the fund for rebuilding Hampstead Garden Suburb
Institute, for which a major appeal was launched earlier this
year. We have always been sympathetically treated by the Institute, both in the
provision of adult courses in archaeology and in help with accommodation for
processing work, storage, etc. This is a chance to show practical appreciation.

West Heath, Phase
I (1976-81). .Daphne Lorimer reported, on behalf of
the Prehistoric Groupthat the Council for British Archaeology has been
approached for a grant towards cost of publication of the report. The full text
of the report has been in the hands of the Museum of London which had indicated
that the West Heath Phase I report could be published as a LAMAS Social Paper -
since as long ago as last autumn. We have been sur­prised-(and, we must
confess, disappointed) at hearing nothing at all from the Museum about
publication in more than six months.

West Heath, Phase II (in progress).
Margaret Maher reported the finding of another
Mesolithic axe making four in all from the site. She also described a recent
threat to the dig from vandals - with four paws. Rabbits have been doing their
bit of excavat ion too - unfortunately in the sections. Chicken wire carefully
applied, has proved •the answer.

There was no report
from the Roman Group,. at present inactive.

At the request of
the Documentary Group James Beard has done some' research into early
maps of the Stapylton Road area of Chipping Barnet, site of a possible dig. So
far he, has unearthed 8 maps, ranging in date from 1817-1914; and he is still
hot on the trail.

Our newest Group -
the Photographic - reported holding its first meet­ing last Month and
mapping out a plan of: future action. One- assignment is to photograph the 27
Blue Plaquesin the. Borough and their settings.-.This will -provide a
preliminary canter for a larger project of photographing all the 'Borough's
Listed buildings when the new Statutory List is published. Then our Listed
Building index - a valuable research tool - will carry -photos as well as
description s and historical details.

The Excavation
Working Party reported a Sunday spent studying, on the ground, the projected
line of the Lee Valley Water Company’s _pipeline across the north of the
Borough, from Rowley Lane to Brockley Hill see Newsletter 171., p- 5). A member
of the Photographic Group recorded the exercise.

'The Committee
agreed to continue to oppose the traffic management scheme proposed by the
Ministry of Transport for Falloden Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb. The
department has chosen the ugliest and most intrusive of the 5 schemes which it
considered to be available; and one which will involve the removal of 15 magnificent
mature plane trees.

As always, lists
of planning applications for the three planning dis­tricts of the Borough -
Northern;-Central and Western – were available for members to study. It was noted
that two applications have now been appro­ved to build detached houses in the
Brockley-Hill area - one behind No 2 and one behind No 6 Brockley Hill,. Both
are sites which should be watched during trenching. The Greater. London
Archaeological Service had indicated some months ago that it might trial-trench
here before development began, but we have heard nothing further of this.

The Committee
noted with regret that no volunteer has been found to serve as Committee representative
of our junior (under 18) members, and decided to widen its search.. Instead-of seeking -a representative
among junior members only, the Committee would like to know if there is any member
--perhaps in late teens. or: twenties - who would be .Prepared to be- co-opted,
with the specific aim of helping to organise projects for juniors. If so, our
Hon. Sec (959 5982) would be most happy to hear from her/him/ them.

MORE IN SORROW

As I have not had
much response to my plea for subscriptions-in the July Newsletter, I have had
to send. 100-plus (including married couples) reminder letters with this
Newsletter. Please let me have your subs as soon as possible.- but if you have
paid-by the time, you receive this, accept my apologies:
and thanks in advance.

Please also note that in the Members
List for January, 1985, I inadvertently gave the address of our Treasurer,
Victor Jones, wrongly. It should be

78 Temple Fortune Lane
(NOT Hill)

NW11 Tel:
458 6180

Phyllis Fletcher

Membership
Secretary

27 Decoy Avenue,
NW11 OES

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Here's a footnote
to our correspondence in the January/February Newsletters about microfiche. You may recall that in January we reviewed an RCHM
publication by

Vivien Swan on the Pottery Kilns of
Roman Britain. We mentioned then that this book, which costs £12.50 has as
a microfiche insertion a gazetteer of 1400 Roman kiln sites giving the
following information about each site: location, type, dating, products,
excavator, bibliography.

This is a practical
exercise in the difference, that fiche makes to publishing costs. If the
gazetteer had been printed as part of the original publication, the cost of the
full volume would presumably have been in the region of £45 which would have
put it beyond most private buyers except specialists. One up to fiche.

On the other hand,
the current Antiquity (No 226 -.July 1985) contains a paper by Roy
Adkins which is downright contemptuous of fiche as a publishing method. It
describes it as 'already obsolete.' The publication method of the future, in MD
Adkins' view, will be via the home computer. 'By the end of the century,' he
writes,''excavation reports are likely to be published on computer discs or
tapes, and only excavation archives will be stored on microfiche.

SITE-WATCHING

These are some recent planning
applications which might be archaeo­logically interesting if they were
to be approved:

Brambles, Barnet Rd, Arkley 3
detached houses (outline)

The Red
Garage, Wood St, Barnet demolition of garage & erection

of a new house

Land adj..Arkley Hall, Barnet Rd 4 detached houses (outline)

Those applications
for approval: there is also news of some applications which have been
approved, which we noted earlier as possibly interesting. They include:

188 High St, Barnet 2-storey rear extension

land adj Lawrence Campe Almshouses, sheltered flats, access road

Friern Barnet Lane (Queenswell

School site)

36 Wood St, Barnet new
office building

part of Highwood Lodge grounds, NW? 2 houses, tennis court

If you notice
activity on any of the above sites, please let John Enderby know on 203 2630.
Newsletter readers form HADAS's early-warning system, insofar as development on interesting
sites is concerned. If you see anything like surveyors at work or materials or
machinery being moved onto a site, please give John a ring: that will alert
him, so that he can arrange for foundation or service trenches (anything, in
fact, which dis­turbs present ground surface) to be watched for possible
evidence.

NOT FORGETTING
LISTED BUILDINGS...

Recent planning
lists have also contained several applications for alterations or repairs to
Listed buildings. These indicate the range of historic buildings and the varied
building techniques that can be seen in the Borough of Barnet - for instance:

There is an
application for extensions and a front Portico for Hasmonean Preparatory School
at 8-10 Shirehall Lane, NW4, a side road near the North
Circular end of Brent St, Hendon. A small gaggle of listed buildings
stands just there - Nos 2, 4, 8 & 10. Nos 8 and 10- are consider­ed to be
of late 17c-early 18c date. 'No 8 is 2-storeyed, with a hipped slate roof and
rendered walls; No 10, also 2-storey, is in two parts, with a
slightly later unifying red brick front. It has hipped, tiled roofs and a
decrease-with fluted columns and cornice.

In Mill Hill two
listed buildings are due for re-roofing this summer ­the Borough specifies
hand-made roof tiles forthis kind of job.

On Milespit Hill
are The.Welches (Nos 1 & 2). It is proposed to re-tile the rear and
side roofs of No 2 this summer, to match No 1, which was done recently. Both houses
are early to mid-18c, two storeys with attics with flat dormer windows.. The
first floors are rendered, the ground floors weatherboarded.

Re-roofing is also
on the agenda for Nicoll Almshouses on Milespit Hill, originally built
by Thomas Nicoll of Copt Hall in 1696. He provided a range of 6 one-storey
brick almshouses, under a long red-tiled roof which will be the subject of the
present exercise. These were for 6 men or women 'who have at least- 5 years
residence in the ancient parish of Hendon.' The almshouses.were modernised in 1959
and again in 1971

The parish church of Chipping Barnet, St John the Baptist, is
another listed building with alteration plans - not for the building itself,
but for its curtilage. The work is described as 'vehicular access and a hard'
standing.' If this work should involve any disturbance of ground surface it
would be worth observing, because the site has a long history. The' church is
considered to be at least a 13c foundation, possibly earlier, rebuilt in 1420
by a prosperous local maltster, John Beauchamp. It was restored and enlarged by
William Butterfield in 1875, when the original nave and north aisle were
retained and a new nave and south aisle added. There is a fine memorial to
Thomas Ravenscroft (d.1630); his son James was a great Barnet benefactor,
founding the Jesus Hospital in nearby Wood St.

Then there is an
application to build a terrace of 4 houses in the garden of a listed
building the walled garden of Belmont House (Mill Hill Junior-School) on
the Ridgeway. This is, we understand, part of a plan to organise the renovation
of a picturesque group of four 18c listed cottages nearby, which cannot be
modernised until/unless other accommo­dation can be made available for the
sitting tenants.

Both Belmont House
and the chapel in its grounds are interesting. Belmont was built c 1765 for a Mr Hammond. One of its earliest owners
was Sir Charles Flower (1763-183k), Lord Mayor of London in 1808. He owned a large slice of Mill Hill, having made his pile by
provisioning the forces of George III. Two Mill Hill streets owe their names to
him: Flower Lane and Goodwyn Avenue, named after his married daughter.

'The chapel, also
listed, has a different history. It was built about 1925, and was designed by
John Carrick Stuart Soutar (1881-1951) FRIBA, who from 1915, when he replaced
Raymond Unwin, was architect to the Hampstead GardenSuburb for over 30
years, with his drawing office at Wyldes Farm, one of the Borough's best known
listed buildings, which stands behind the Old Bull and Bush.

Finally, there is an application for a change
of use for a listed building at 9 High Street,
Elstree. That sets the imagination roving ­what strange changes of use that
building has had in its life time. At present it is used as an office; the
change of use application is for it to become a beautician’s parlour.

9 High Street, Elstree, began life, however almost five
centuries ago. In. the Listed Buildings Schedule it is described like this;

"Frontage 18c
on earlier partly-medieval house. Two storeys, cemented and colour washed..
'Three sashes, modern glazing.-Two small shop windows on the ground floor and central
door. Parapet. To right is a carriage entrance with flat arch. Canted sash
oriel over, with canted roof. Old tile roof, roar portion slates. Alley-way to
left hand side with projecting chimney breast. The main range is a former open
hall of c. 1500, with smoke blackened roof timbers, inserted floor fireplaces
and chimney of c. 1600. 17c wing at rear at right angles."

What would the
medieval craftsmen who built the hall house have thought had they been able to
take a pleat in time and look down from their work among the rafters, purlins
and plates (which would later become smoke-blackened) into cubicles in which
ladies were having their wrinkles rolled away under mudpacks or even disporting
themselves in saunas?

FARMING ROMAN
STYLE

A site beside the
Roman Palace at Fishbourne, near Chichester, is to be used to re-create a rural
environment which will demonstrate aspects of life in the West Sussex
countryside during the lst-3rd centuries AD.

There will be
grazing for cattle and sheep,two fields in which ancient varieties of
wheat, beans, peas etc will be grown, beds for herbs and a wine arbour. The centerpiece
will be an octagonal... experimental earthwork with adjacent weather station.
Demonstrations of agricultural processes will be given, and it is hoped
eventually to include recon­structions of Roman agricultural buildings.

The project is
being run in collaboration with the Butser Ancient Farm Trust, Further information from Harold Shellswell,
Education/Farm Project Officer, Fishbourne Roman Palace, Salthill Rd,
Fishbourne.

ABOUT PEOPLE

In July we had
further news of our Chairman, BRIAN JARMAN; we hasten to pass it on because
many members have enquired about him.. His cousin, who has kindly kept us in
touch with Brian's progress, reported several weeks ago that he had just begun
to turn the corner.

As Newsletter
readers will know, Councillor Jarman was taken ill early in May, and at that
time faced prolonged medical tests. While these took place he remained at home
in Hendon; but towards the end of June he went to Sussex to stay with
relatives; and from there went into St Mary's Hospital in Eastbourne for
treatment.

It is always pleasant to welcome new
members: but doubly so when it is, in fact, a welcome back to a former member.
That is how it is with GILL BRAITHWAITE who left England (and
HADAS) in 1981 to accompany her husband to the Washington Embassy. Now she's
back at their house in Hampstead Garden Suburb - and she has returned to the
HADAS fold too, we're delighted to say.

Vice-President TED
SAMMES - who, as many members will know, is also' Chairman of the Maidenhead
Archaeological and Historical Society - was co-organiser of an exhibition last
month at Maidenhead Library on "When Brunel's Railway Came to Maidenhead."
It celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway. Most
appropriately, the workmen who were building an extension onto Ted's house at
Taplow unearthed in his garden some fragments of china cups and saucers stamped
with the GWR coat of arms so those went on display too, a tribute to the balmy
days of GWR catering. No throw-away plastic beakers then.

HADAS member MAIR LIVINGSTONE discovered, to her great surprise, on a
recent Scottish holiday that sheep on Islay can climb nimbly up and down
wide-apart stepping stones set in a 5ft high enclosure wall which human beings
find tricky to negotiate. She discovered two ewes and three lambs happily
cropping forbidden territory among medieval monuments and Celtic crosses which
the enclosure wall should have kept sheep-free at Kildalton High Cross, a 10th
c. site. Then she proved how they did it by watching them do it again when they
had been shoó-ed out.

So she wrote and reported the athletic
animals to the Argyll and Bute authorities, who have now solemnly decreed that,
in view of the sheeps' climbing abilities, stricter measures must be taken.

MILL HILL WALKABOUT

A report by MARY O'CONNELLon the July
outing

A short sharp shower just before the off'
did not deter a couple of dozen HADAS hikers from setting out from the Rising
Sun at Mill Hill on our summer walk..

Happily the sun returned as John Collier,
secretary of the Mill Hill Historical Society, led us to the home of colonial
administrator. Sir Stamford Raffles and the estate of his friend and neighbour
William Wilber­force, champion of slaves and builder of St Pauls Church on the
Ridgeway. The Wilberforce barn and lodge are in the good hands of Conservation
Society members,'Mr and Mrs Kramer, who kindly invited us in to view the' base
of an old stone staircase which they have incorporated in their hall.

Later we were fortunate to be asked into
the quaint old Post Office, home-of Mrs Dulcie Rispoli, to see the
waterpump preserved in her sitting room.

John Collier told
us odd tales about familiar houses like Highwood Ash, from which Celia -
"the 'Fienne' lady on a white horse" . rode to Banbury
Cross to visit her uncle on one of her many equestrian journeys through 17c
England.

We heard that
accounts still exist to show that oxen were once shod at the Old Forge; that
Cardinal Newman took cartloads of fish to sell in London to help pay for his
Missionary College; and that Sir James Murray employed his numerous children to
sort through the paper slips bearing definitions for his Oxford English
dictionary.

The Three Hammers
pub was once within earshot of a smith, a stonemason and a joiner, and a school
cottage has a pathway paved with inkwells. Mill Hill school is built on a
Dissenters foundation and many trees and bushes there were planted by 18c
botanist Peter Collinson whose home was nearby.

All this anda
great deal more you may read in LBB's Town Trail No 2: Mill Hill Village,
by John Collier (25p).

As we neared the end of our trail,
thunder rolled and we fled to St Vincent's, where Sister Esther and the Vincent
de Paul nuns had prepared a fine tea for us. The beautiful chapel and their
centenary exhibition provided a fitting climax to a very enjoyable afternoon.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT DRINKING HORNS?

The 1985 Bulletin
of Experimental Archaeology describes the insights that 'a simple experiment
done properly' can give, The experimentalists were 12-year-olds at Spalding
Grammar School, Lincs, and their work was recorded by their schoolmaster, Peter Ryde, in Teaching
History No 36, June 1983.

The boys answered
their own questions while making and using drinking horns. Trial and error
solved problems of cleaning and working the very raw horn material, which was
delivered direct from the abattoir; and questions such as 'how do you hold it?'
and 'what do you do if you want to put it down before it is empty' were easily
answered in practice (in the last case, the capacity proved disappointingly
small, so the problem can seldom have arisen
in antiquity).

Peter Hyde's practical advice will
simplify this particular experiment for teachers wishing to follow his example.
"But be warned," he says, "it's rather a gruesome business, and
you will need to do as much as possible out of doors or the smell will haunt
you in your dreams."

LOOKING AHEAD TO
AUTUMN

Maybe
it seems early days - especially in the kind of summer we've had so far - to be
thinking of autumn and winter courses: but you may like advance notice of some
local plans.

First,
there are University extramural courses at HGS Institute: The Certificate in
Yield Archaeology enters its second - or Roman - year, with a course on the
Romano-British period in SE England by Margaret Roxan on Thursday afternoons,
starting Sept 19, 2-4 pm. The course costs £30 but ­and this is the first time
with a university course - pensioners pay half-fee. Don't be put off if you
didn't do the first year in 1984: the Certi­ficate years need not be taken
seriatim.

The Institute also offers a Diploma course in the History
of Art: this year 16c High Renaissance, on Thurs, from Sept 26, 10.30am-12.30,
E M King.

An evening non-diploma course in Egyptology is likely to be
popular: Thurs from Sept 19, 7.17-9.15 pm, lecturer A Roberts. The above courses are each 2 terms. Enrol at HGS
Institute, Central Sq, NW11 (in person or by post). Office open 9-5 except from
Aug 5-27 inc, when the Institute is
closed.

At the invitation
of the Hornsey Historical Society HADAS is organising another "Aspects of
Archaeology" course this year at the Old Schoolhouse, 136 Tottenham Lane,
N8, where we have held courses before. As an experiment, this will be in
daytime - 9 lectures and 1 visit on Mons, starting Sept 30, 1.45-3.45 pm.

The lecturers - Daphne
Lorimer, Sheila Woodward and Brigid. Grafton Green - have chosen topics which
closely interest them and the range is therefore aide - two linked lectures on
underwater archaeology and its techniques, one dealing with a 'drowned'
Mesolithic site off the Danish coast, the other with a French Neolithic
lakeside village. Three'lectures are on famous archaeologists - Schliemann and
the search for Troy, Leonard' Woolley and excavations at Ur and Mortimer
Wheeler, whose digs ranged from St Albans to Mohenjodaro. Town life in Roman
Britain and Roman gods and burial practices are other subjects. A
second, post-Christmas series is under consideration. HADAS members who are
interested can get further information from Brigid Grafton Green (455 9040)

A MISSING LINK AT
YORK?

The two missing
centuries in the history of York - those years when the Anglian city of
Eoforwic flourished, from the 7th-9th c. AD, may at last have been discovered.
It was the success of the bustling, rich Anglian settlement which attracted
Viking marauders and led to the founding of Viking Jorvik.

A dig on the site
of the Redfearn National Glass factory at Fishergate, prior to development of
the site as a hotel and houses, was aimed at exca­vating the priory of
Gilbertine canons (the only medieval monastic order of English origin, founded
by St Gilbert of Sampringham). In fact it not only uncovered part of the
priory, but nearby it found pits, stakeholes, cesspits and ditches associated
with Anglian artefacts - about 30 pieces of hand-made pottery, decorated glass
beads, a silver finger ring, a copper-alloy strap-end with traces of red
enamel, a 7c bronze spoon, clay loom weights and a bone comb fragment.

The site - at the
junction of the rivers Foss and Ouse - would have been well suited to a trading
station, and was down river from the decaying Roman fortress and city - in a
similar situation to Anglo-Saxon Southampton, a site of similar date.

So far only narrow trenches have been
opened, but it is hoped, if the finance can be found, to do an area excavation
- and to establish without doubt the Anglian missing link.

EXHIBITIONS. Grange Museum, Neasden Lane, NW10 till Sept 14, 150th
anniver­sary exhibition on the Welsh Harp Reservoir (part of which lies within
our Borough). Victorian technology of the dam which holds back a water supply
for London's canals, scientific importance of the lake as a waterfowl haven and
recreational uses of the reservoir and its banks by Londoners. Mons-Fris 12-5
pm (Weds 12-8 pm), Sats 10-5.

Church Farm House
Museum, Hendon, "Miss Holgates Hendon - Pages from a Victorian Lady's
Sketchbook." Hendon scenes drawn by Agnes Beattie Holgate in the '50s of
the last century are an interesting record of a world we have now lost until
Sept 8.